Myths & Facts

Hip Replacement Myth

Myth: Hip replacements are for the elderly.

Fact: Anyone can have hip damage due to weight, injury, tumor growth, inflammation, or arthritis. There is a minimally invasive hip replacement procedure for those under age 50, in good health, and at a healthy weight that requires only two small incisions.”

Fact: SI Joint

The sacroiliac joint or SI joint is the joint in the bony pelvis between the sacrum and the ilium of the pelvis, which are joined by strong ligaments. In humans, the sacrum supports the spine and is supported in turn by an ilium on each side. It is a strong, weight bearing synovial joint with irregular elevations and depressions that produce interlocking of the two bones. Sacroiliac joint pain is generally more common in young and middle age women.

Hip Replacement Myth

Myth: It will feel unnatural to have a new hip joint.

Fact: Medical science has made huge strides in the hip replacement procedure, material, and design. There are a variety of artificial ball-and-socket joints available to you. Dr Lowell will determine the best size, design, and material for a natural, comfortable, and flexible fit.”

Sacroiliac Joints Fact

The human body has two sacroiliac joints, one on the left and one on the right, that often match each other but are highly variable from person to person.

Fact: Total Knee Replacement

More than 90 percent of individuals who undergo total knee replacement surgery experience a dramatic reduction of knee pain and a significant improvement in the ability to perform common activities of daily living. But total knee replacement will not make you a super-athlete or allow you to do more than you could before you developed arthritis.

Physical Therapy Fact

Physical therapy is key to success after joint replacement- Moving around is critical not just in the days after surgery, but in the weeks and months after, too. The more you move, the better your long-term outcome. After leaving the hospital, you’ll probably see a physical therapist a couple of times a week for the first six weeks, but the key is to practice the exercises twice a day on your own.

Neck Joints Fact

Just like all the other joints in your body, your neck joints tend to experience wear and tear with age, which can cause osteoarthritis in your neck.

Arthritis Myth

Myth: Living with arthritis pain is just a necessary part of the aging process.

Fact: Those with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and other pains associated with arthritis can reduce daily pain through a hip replacement. You don’t have to live with the pain or stay confined to bed or wheelchair.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is a common complaint. Most causes of neck pain aren’t serious. You should seek immediate medical care if you experience: Shooting pain into your shoulder or down your arm, numbness or loss of strength in your arms or hands, change in bladder or bowel habits, inability to touch your chin to your chest.

Spinal Pain

Spinal pain can occur when, for example, someone lifts something too heavy or overstretches, causing a sprain, strain, or spasm in one of the muscles or ligaments in the back. If the spine becomes overly strained or compressed, a disc may rupture or bulge outward. This rupture may put pressure on one of the more than 50 nerves rooted to the spinal cord that control body movements and transmit signals from the body to the brain. When these nerve roots become compressed or irritated, back pain results.

SI Joint Pain

While it is not clear how the pain is caused, it is thought that an alteration in the normal joint motion may be the culprit that causes sacroiliac pain. This source of pain can be caused by either: Too much movement — hypermobility or instability. The pain is typically felt in the lower back and/or hip and may radiate into groin area. Too little movement — hypomobility or fixation. The pain is typically felt on one side of the low back or buttocks, and can radiate down the leg. The pain usually remains above the knee, but at times pain can extend to the ankle or foot. The pain is similar to sciatica, or pain that radiates down the sciatic nerve and is caused by a radiculopathy.

Knee Replacement Facts

Approximately 581,000 knee replacements are performed each year in the United States. Most patients who undergo total knee replacement are age 60 to 80. Recommendations for surgery are based on a patient’s pain and disability, not age. Total knee replacements have been performed successfully at all ages, from the young teenager with juvenile arthritis to the elderly patient with degenerative arthritis.

Fact: Bone Strength

As people age, bone strength and muscle elasticity and tone tend to decrease. The spinal discs begin to lose fluid and flexibility, which decreases their ability to cushion the vertebrae.

Spinal Facts

Starting at the top, the spine has four regions – the seven cervical or neck vertebrae (labeled C1 – C7), the 12 thoracic or upper back vertebrae (labeled T1 – T12), the five lumbar vertebrae (labeled L1 – L5), which we know as the lower back, and the sacrum and coccyx, a group of bones fused together at the base of the spine.

Benefit of Knee Replacement

Knee replacement surgery is one of the most important orthopedic surgical advances of the twentieth century. The first knee replacement surgery was performed in 1968. Improvements in surgical materials and techniques since then have greatly increased its effectiveness.

Many people say they’d do it again!

Janice Gifford, 60, of Sioux City, Iowa, was diagnosed with RA 20 years ago. She had both hips replaced more than 10 years ago, and a knee replaced last year. Would she do it again? “Absolutely,” she says. Because of the pain, “the only thing I could do at night was sleep in a lounge chair or pace from one end of the house to the other,” she says. Gifford was fully recovered a year after surgery. “I’m totally free from pain,” she says. “My leg is straight again. I can do anything. I run; I carry boxes. If people were to see me, they wouldn’t pick me out as having rheumatoid arthritis or prosthetic joints at all.”

Fact: Lower Back Pain

Low back pain is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the United States.

Neck Muscle Strain

A common cause of neck pain is muscle strain. Overuse, such as too many hours hunched over a steering wheel, often triggers muscle strains. Neck muscles, particularly those in the back of your neck, become fatigued and eventually strained. When you overuse your neck muscles repeatedly, chronic pain can develop. Even such minor things as reading in bed or gritting your teeth can strain neck muscles.

Fact: Walking After Hip Replacement Surgery

You will walk the day after replacement surgery – Or even sooner. In some cases, patients take a few steps — anywhere from 10 to 200 feet — the same day as the surgery. Being sedentary ups the risk of complications such as blood clots, pneumonia and bed sores. If you don’t move, you can form adhesions in the knee and get quite stiff; then it’s hard to walk or ride a bike.

Fact: Back Pain

Back pain is the most frequent cause of activity limitation in people younger than 45 years old.

Sacroiliac Joint

For decades, the sacroiliac joint was suspected to be a common cause of low back and/or leg pain, although difficulty in proving it with standard diagnostic tests left many in the medical profession skeptical.

Back Pain Fact

Most cases of back pain are mechanical, or non-organic; meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.

Christine,
I can’t thank you enough for helping me the day I came to the office. You saw I was in extreme pain and needed help and took it upon yourself and assisted me with doing the paperwork. It shows what a special person you are and I again thank you and God for people like you! I can walk, sit and sleep now without pain after surgery.

Truly Grateful, THANK YOU!

Dr. Troy Lowell, Tonya Lowell and Staff,

Words can’t express how grateful I am when you took me in as an emergency patient to help me in my time of desperation with my back. Because you and your staff were able to get me into surgery sooner than I was schedule, cause I could no longer move without extreme pain, I can now walk, sit, sleep and eat when I wasn’t able for 2 weeks prior. I wouldn’t lay down without pain, my legs would hang off the side of our bed to get some relief and that’s how I stayed for two weeks prior to surgery for pinched nerve and fusion in L4, L5 and L5 SI. It’s an incredible feeling to be out of pain!

Deeply Grateful!

I came to Dr. Lowell because the knee replacements I had done several years ago were not working properly for me anymore. At first I was very scared, but Dr. Lowell and his staff allayed all of my fears. I went on to have my surgery, and I must say it was a great experience. I was amazed by how quickly I was able to get back on my feet. Everyone in the office was pleasant and helpful.

S. Chapman

I think Dr. Lowell’s office is wonderful! Dr. Lowell replaced both my knee and my hip. I have a new lease on life because of the work he has done. I now walk 3 miles a day because I no longer have pain. I don’t know what I would have done without their help!

Leonia R.

I am absolutely thrilled with the experience I had with Dr. Lowell and his staff! I loved the staff and the care they gave me. I can not say enough good things about my experience! I am doing wonderful already and it has only been 2 months since my hip replacement!

M. Barone

Dr. Lowell performed a sacroiliac fusion on me due to chronic pain I was having in my left SI join and leg. Following surgery, the pain I was having resolved. I can now walk much better than I was before the surgery!